Interview with one of the digital audio industry leaders Antelope Audio designer Igor Levin. This is part one of the interview.
Where and how did it all start for Antelope Audio?
The real beginning was 25 years ago, not with
Antelope but another animal - Aardvak. This was my first company back in the U.S.
There, I started with a two-channel S/PDIF card for PC. The plan was to make a
separate A/D and D/A converter so that the user can record and then get the
sound out of the computer. This required a clock that has to clock the
converters. At that time a clock was not something that you just go out and
buy, that's why I had to design my own clock. I started selling the converters.
People liked them, but what they really liked was the clock. It turned out that
the clock I built for my converters became more popular than the converters
themselves. This is how we became a hit clocking company. AardSync was our
first clock, which is still in use by some studios in New York and L.A.
Later on in 2005 I founded Antelope Audio. The idea
was to design better master clocks. With the progress of technologies I was
aware that I had to improve what I had done with AardSync and had to go to a
more stable time base. This is how I introduced Antelope's Isochrone line (Iso
– same; chronos – time, derived from the Greek).
It was in 2008 – 2009 when we recognized the
market’s demand for high quality D/A conversion. This is why we decided to
implement our know-how into building our first 192 kHz USB DAC – Zodiac+.
Lately you have turned to the audiophile oriented
market. Would you consider Antelope an audiophile oriented company?
I wouldn’t say we are either an audiophile or pro
audio oriented company. We clearly have serious background in professional
audio industry but now we are providing consumers with high quality audio
devices, utilizing the innovations we had developed for the pro guys. We are
equally dedicated to both our consumer and professional customers since we see
a good synergy especially in the R&D of the digital technologies.
Kindly list all current products from Antelope.
We have a product line of
audio master clocks and reference generators – the Isochrone line. It is pro
audio oriented, although we have high end consumer electronics customers
purchasing our Trinity clock and 10M atomic clock. And I’m not surprised since
this combo provides extremely stable clocking reference used for the scoring of
a number of blockbusters such as Avatar and Batman. It could perfectly fit any
digital set up.
Another professional
device is our AD/DA mastering converter Eclipse 384, which also already found
its place in some audiophile set ups, thanks to the capability of digitizing
analog (vinyl) recordings and storing them in 384 kHz audio files.
The audiophile stuff is represented
by the Integrity line. These are the 192 kHz USB DACs Zodiac and Zodiac+, and
the 384 kHz DAC Zodiac Gold. This line consists also of a separate audiophile-grade
power supply Voltikus which operates with all three models.
The icing on the cake is
the device that we presented at the Munich High End Show. Rubicon is the
world’s first Atomic AD/DA Preamp. It is a 384 kHz converter, phono stage
preamp and headphone amplifier with an integrated Rubidium atomic clock.
What would you say, that Antelope audio is doing differently
- specifically compared to other DAC’S.
The first and the most
distinguishing is the accurate clocking. The high-accuracy clocking is the key
to avoiding loss of details and poor stereo imaging. An accurate clock creates
better timing reference by providing more stable pulses, which determine the
exact placement of each sample. Antelope's Acoustically Focused Clocking and
Oven Controlled Clock technologies ensure unprecedented stability of the clock,
precise jitter management and finest sound quality.
Another
differentiator is the custom USB chip. Since we are one of the few that have
the hardware capability to use synch mode we utilize it instead of the async in
our DACs. This is why we offer users a plug and play custom USB interface with
native drivers, requiring no additional software installation both for Mac and
PC. The benefits are 384 kHz streaming, excellent jitter performance and smooth
user experience without additional drivers. We were among the pioneers and
still among the few companies that support up to 384 kHz USB streaming, which I
believe is the future of digital audio.
What is your approach to power supply and how
important is it in your opinion?
Power supply is another important issue when it
comes to conversion. This is why we are paying special attention to it and that
is why we created the separate dedicated power supply unit Voltikus.
What is ‘transparency’ in the eyes of Antelope
Audio?
My philosophy is that the converters should be
transparent. Any sound shaping should be done by dedicated devices (equalizers,
compressors, tape simulators, tubes, transformers) that are designed for the
purpose and have a great degree of adjustability and control. To have a
'colored' converter is like having a camera with a pink-colored lens. You do
not always want all your pictures pink, do you?
What is
the difference between your pro and audiophile products?
We do not apply any differentiators when we are
designing pro or audiophile product. Actually there are more similarities than
differences. The only thing that leads us is responding to customers’ demands
and providing them with one and the same high quality high-end technologies. The
other important point that is worth mentioning is that in both markets we are
not following but setting the trends. We are developing products that are more
or less industry benchmarks rather than just another product in the rack.
Where is the end in regards to sampling frequency
and bits? What about 32-bits?
The 24 bits have not been achieved yet. In spite of
a wave of 32 bit converters - which employ marketing rather than audio bits –
the performance of state of the art converters is currently about 21-22 bits.
Personally I don't think more bits matter anymore. But higher sample rates ARE
important. And the issue there is not that you can convert up to 200 kHz (that
only your dog can hear), but the fact that many software plug-ins work a lot
better at higher sampling rates. This is especially true of compressors and
various saturation simulators which benefit from oversampling. Arguments can be
made that DACs also do a better job converting heavily oversampled audio by
eliminating some upsampling steps.
Do you produce everything in house or do you employ
subcontractors?
All Antelope Audio products are assembled in house
and go through rigorous quality assurance. Of course some of the components are
sourced from various suppliers, which we select very carefully. We follow very
strict procedures when choosing our suppliers. This is the only way to be sure
that all the components coming from Germany, Switzerland, Japan, China etc. are
of the highest quality standards.
What
made you move into the audiophile market?
First of all, it was the noticeable demand for high
quality converters and the desire to provide the end customers with
technologies previously available only to the best sound engineers. It is
really exciting to give people the opportunity to experience sound quality
available only in the finest recording and mastering studios.
Besides this, it is a real challenge to penetrate
such a large and at the same time kind of closed market, which is not welcoming
to newcomers.
How would you define Antelope Audio’s sound/
approach?
My personal philosophy is that it is absolutely
crucial to use some of those so called “coloring” technologies in order to
achieve optimum artistic result with the audio. This is in fact what sound
recording, mastering and post production are doing. But in order to be able to
skillfully apply the “coloring” we need a technology that guarantees a complete,
non-distorted and accurate reproduction. This is what Antelope Audio is doing –
developing technology that provides as clear and non- colored sound as
possible. My philosophy is that everything should stand on a clock that gives a
very nice reproduction that is not colored artificially and does not have a digital
sound to it. Then and only then we are able to manipulate the audio in a way
that best suites our listening preferences.
What is the secret of Antelope Audio’s strong
market impact in high end audio world?
Converter design is as much art as science. Much
like cooking. The secret is not just to have good ingredients but to be skilled
in the art of combining them, taking into account how they interact and to have
a sense of balance. This is something a good designer learns to live with as
his skills grow. And, at the end of the day that is what makes audio design
Art.
We hear many theories on the importance of the master
clock. Can you tell us more about your view?
The importance of the precise master clock is not
just a theory. It is proven by the everyday live applications in thousands of
recording, mastering and postproduction studios around the world. A great
number of sound engineers trust master clocks to synchronize their devices. And
the more precise the clock is the better the sound quality is.
The same rules that apply for the digital studio
devices are equally valid for the home environment. The effect that accurate,
stable clocking has on a digital audio system can be difficult to grasp without
experiencing it first-hand. An accurate clock can make an average converter
sound much better than poorly clocked high-end gear.
Morten
from 2L uses your converter for their mastering. So from Hollywood you’re
moving into mastering houses…
Morten is a great guy and he is doing a really
great job with his recordings. I believe that hi-res audio is the future of
pure sound and I’m happy that together with Morten we are able to work in this
direction and make it happen.
Rubicon.
How did this product evolve and happen?
After developing a very high-end pro audio device
that incorporates our best technologies such as the Eclipse 384, it was a fair
step to do the same for the high-end consumer enthusiasts. With the Rubicon we
went even further by integrating a 10 MHz Rubidium atomic clock.
Can you
tell us more about atomic clock?
The atomic clock is actually a rubidium core which
is 100,000 times more stable than the traditional crystal oscillator. The
stability of the atomic is 1 second in 1,000 years. This is a technology
developed for accurate time keeping in space telecommunication systems, Sat Nav
and GPS. Now it enters the home environment with the world’s first Atomic AD/DA
Preamp, providing listeners with exclusive sound clarity and unprecedented
soundstage, removing the boundary between analog and digital audio.
What is
so special about Rubicon?
Rubicon is the first AD/DA with an Atomic clock,
which makes it the most accurate converter ever built. The A/D conversion
implemented in it clearly shows that it is not a device targeting only the digital
audio lovers. On the contrary, it is a device that can perfectly suit the needs
of the vinyl aficionados. With the transformer-based, ultra-low noise, discrete
JFET phono preamp and the 384 kHz recording function, Rubicon becomes the
ultimate device for digitizing analog audio content.
Rubicon’s
design resembles pure art deco. Where did the inspiration came from?
This is a question which should
go to our art director. As far as I know he is highly inspired by car design.
This is where he borrowed ideas for the Rubicon.
Matej Isak
Mono and Stereo ultra high end audio magazine
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